The Old Fashioned… 3-Point Play 

TOF3PP will feature two topics from the sports world (The Bucket), and one current event from pop culture (The And 1).

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The Bucket 

The NBA’s Golden State Warriors (7-0)  have clearly picked up things in the 2015-2016 season where they left off at the end of last season’s impressive 67-15 run. A dominant run which culminated in a successful Finals appearance that culminated in a 4-2 series win versus a determined LeBron James and his shorthanded Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact the Warriors past three seasons have featured significant increases in W’s –  23 (’11-’12) ,47 (’12-’13), and 51 (’13-’14) in former coach Mark Jackson‘s awkward final season.

The 7-0 start, driven in part by a league-leading 115.7 PPG, paired with reigning league MVP Stephen Curry‘s white hot play – 40 points on opening night and another 53 versus the hapless New Orleans Pelicans (0-6) in the young season’s second meeting – has people debating whether the Dubs will match or possibly best the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls 72-10 record. By the way, what the hell did the Pelicans and new coach Alvin Gentry do to deserve facing the defending champs twice in the season’s first week? 

The first loss isn’t likely to come versus the visiting Detroit Pistons (4-1) in their Nov. 9 meeting with the Dubs, as Detroit will take the floor at The Roaracle only a night after facing the surprising Portland Trailblazers (4-1).

Just how could the Dubs lose 12 or more games…

I’ll go with the most glaring issue first. FOXSports has reported that head coach Steve Kerr‘s absence might last until after the All-Star game (Feb. 13) – essentially the season’s midpoint. Interim coach Luke Walton has already skippered the team to a 50-point victory against the Memphis Grizzlies, a playoff team last season, in his short time at the helm. However, prior to reaching Kerr’s targeted window of return the Dubs will have played all of its games versus Eastern Conference front runners Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors will have also faced both the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks twice to complete those season series too. Also during that time, second meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets will have happened, as well as the first showdowns with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma Thunder. It’s highly likely the GSW ship will take on a some water among this group of opponents. Walton can’t possibly punch the buttons on a nightly basis the way Kerr was able to last season to maintain the season-long precision engineered, well-oiled machine performance.

The next point. The Warriors, while exceptional at their craft, are predominantly a jump shooting team. The 72-game winning Bulls operated primarily in Phil Jackson’s vaunted triangle offense, and played in an era that relied on 3-point shooting considerably less than today’s NBA. Curry’s 33.9 PPG per NBA.com/stats is likely to drop down below 30 at some point. Right? Maybe it doesn’t but at some point another player – presumably fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson – is going to have to average above 15 PPG – the other 29 teams will be bringing the champs their best work on a nightly basis. Golden State is bound to have some off nights shooting the ball.

Final point. The Dubs play in the highly contested Western conference. Steph & Co. did jump on the Grizz before they could get off the stool, and they have already taken down the Rockets (a bit convincingly) and the Pacific division contender L.A. Clippers. But, both of these teams are in the early stages of adjusting to the addition of some new pieces – similarly to the situation in San Antonio. Doc Rivers and LAC is now managing roles and best unit fit and play time for newcomers Josh Smith, Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce. The point guard duties, or ball handling, have shifted from MVP-runner up James Harden to Nuggets outcast Ty Lawson. San Antonio no longer have Marco Belinelli and Tiago Splitter to spell its starters, but they have added the off season’s big haul LaMarcus Aldridge and veteran big David West.

The time it takes these teams to develop some winning basketball team chemistry will extend beyond the first couple of weeks of the season. We also have to factor in how the Warriors will handle the NBA’s typical factors such as windshield time (travel), back-to-back games, the grueling 4-games-in-7-nights problem, and the most crucial factor of all: injury.

The aforementioned Harden just recently broke out of his low-scoring rut, exploding for a season-high of 46 against the Clips, and we haven’t seen the small-ball favoring Dubs face a talented, scoring NBA big man (they’re rare but there are a few) to this point. Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins was out with an Achilles injury for the Kings‘ Nov. 7 game at home against GSW.

I’m going with Golden State’s win total to result in a +1 for 68 wins.

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I have to shake my head at troubled Dallas Cowboys DE Greg Hardy. Or, do I?

Or, do I need to shake my head at Cowboys owner Jerry Jones? Or, is he even blame worthy?

Should I (ignorantly) look to the United States criminal justice system and all of its shortcomings? Wait a minute, a brother has actually gotten a fair shake in a court of law for once… everything’s okay, right? 

Nah man, like Pulp Fiction‘s pissed off, bloodied and post-violated 12-gauge wielding Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames)… we’re pretty effing far from okay.

I’m pissed off because I’m beyond fatigued regarding all of the off the field issues that have plagued the NFL the past several years. Furthermore, I can’t believe the naiveté on display across the board. We really needed Deadspin to release the photos this week of Hardy’s former girlfriend Nicole Holder’s bruises following her domestic violence incident with Hardy to know some maniacal stuff happened in his Charlotte apartment? We really needed these pictures for the media to get in an uproar about whether Hardy deserves to be in the league?

I had to have ESPN’s Cris Carter interrupted mid-sermon by his co-panelist Tom Jackson, welling up with tears on NFL Countdown? Didn’t we just learn that there was a disturbing video – that had been long-reported by all of the sports talk shows I listen to – associated with the Ray Rice elevator incident? Well, I guess some of us were unable to surmise that some heinous actions had to have transpired in the minutes before we saw Janay (Palmer) Rice’s motionless body being dragged out of the elevator in the initial video…

The odd thing here is… where the hell has commissioner Roger Goodell been the last nine weeks?!?!? I guess after his recent string of high profile losses in court, most notably the unexpected reversal of the 4-game Tom Brady decision, he’s opted for more of a laissez-faire approach to the league’s governance. As long as the games go off on-time on Monday, Thursday and Sunday… don’t contact me.

I was completely through with Hardy after the stories broke regarding his rap video, his disrespectful comments aimed at Brady’s wife Gisele, and definitely after the sideline eruption where he knocked the clipboard out of the Cowboys special teams coach’s hands. Without ever interacting with the guy, without ever hearing any stories confirming what kind of teammate he is; the guy just doesn’t seem like a likable person – at the least he’s a distraction. That said, the clipboard incident made me really question Jones and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, in particular how Garret is looked at by his coaching staff and any younger players.

As a Redskins fan I could take the liberty to really pile it out on here, but that’s unnecessary. Jones has done well to an extent, previously bringing a number of troubled players into the Cowboys locker room. Dez Bryant‘s situation coming out of Oklahoma State is well-known. Josh Brent  was welcomed back into the Cowboys family after everything was sorted out following his auto accident that resulted in teammate Jerry Brown Jr’s death. The problematic Terrell Owens had an eventful stint in Big D. Jones made the call to select projected first rounder DE Randy Gregory with the 94th pick in the 2015 draft. Shortly after the draft Jones also signed LSU OL La’el Collins, a highly coveted player who didn’t participate in the draft due to the suspected murder of the woman who was pregnant with his child that happened a few days prior.

Not all of these moves were egregious on Jones’ behalf. But, after a number of questionable personnel decisions have been made, and we hear that a contract extension was already in the works with Hardy, we’re quizzically looking for… the proverbial line to be drawn? Hmmm, doesn’t seem likely.

I honestly don’t know where I stand concerning whether it’s a privilege, an honor, a right etc to be a member of the National Football League. I don’t. I will say all of Jerry Jones’ handling of the team, in its entirety, is likely the reason why this franchise seems to look so dysfunctional every season, and why even without veteran QB on the field for most of the season the team is 2-5. That’s 2-5 in the underwhelming NFC East. I could assert that the under performing team’s lowly standing is karmic, but I believe it’s just a product of some bad groceries here and there. Whaddup Parcells!

Jones has already come out an issued a succinct statement defending his decision to sign Hardy for this season – while adding that the franchise does not condone domestic violence – and he’s standing his ground regarding his fondness of Hardy’s leadership style in the wake of the sideline altercation. I suppose 3 sacks (tied for the team lead), a couple of tackles for a loss, a highlight reel batted-ball-interception play, and a handful of tackles is worth having the volatile guy on the roster.  The disheartening part is us fans have to hear all the self aggrandizing coverage about Hardy and his poor conduct from all of the various outlets. It all really just makes me wonder who really shouldn’t be reaching for a stone to cast.

Lastly, second chance deserved or not… can this guy quit interrupting my NFL season!!!

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The And 1 

Any 007 or SPECTRE fans out there? The latest James Bond film was in theaters this week. Otherwise, it’s kind of been a slow week in pop culture… I did catch some great footage from the CMA’s of C&W’s newcomer artist Chris Stapleton – Justin Timberlake joined him onstage during his performance. Dude was pretty talented, but I’m going to stay with a story that’s partially sports I guess. It’s a shocking or controversial reaction to a sports event by a current ESPN columnist and host.

Jemele Hill, a well known Michigan State University Spartan and ambassador, apparently became lit after her 7th ranked Spartans lost their first game 39-38 on the road in Lincoln, Nebraska to the Cornhuskers as the result of another officiating gaffe. After a 30-yard Nebraska TD pass was upheld after review, with just 17 seconds left in the game Hill took her frustrations to Twitter to share with college football fans that her beloved Spartans got “F@#&*%!”

Was the co-host of ESPN’s trendy debate show His&Her with her partner Michael Smith guilty of doing too much? Due to her position I can’t argue that Hill’s tweet wasn’t extra, but is the world of fandom the best judge to decide whether she went too far? At the time of this writing, ESPN had not issued any comment or punishment but many fans and haters on Twitter have voiced their support (for being real undoubtedly) or displeasure. All to which Hill offered:

I SAID WHAT I SAID.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) November 8, 2015

I didn’t feel like taking the time to see whether the original comment, which was actually a reply to a Tweet about somebody needing to check on Jemele’s well being after the MSU-NEB game ended. However, I’m a Gen Xer, I’ve seen tons of inappropriate behavior in my time and I really can’t find too much fault in her tweet. It’s part of this social media game!

I had to listen to Hill coldly tear apart the Michigan Wolverines on half a dozen different shows following U of M’s last second loss to her alma mater at the Big House… the world still vividly remembers Blake O’Neill’s botched punt attempt and the ensuing recovery and touchdown scamper to seal the 27-23 Spartan win. The MSU-MICH game was arguably CFB’s best game of the year until the LSU-BAMA showdown on Nov. 7th.

I’m cool with Hill’s unwavering allegiance to her squad, her fervor for her Spartans athletic teams, and while her tweet probably was a little distasteful – she is a veteran professional writer skilled in her use of the English language  – it was awesome to find some solace weeks later knowing that she experienced some of what us Michigan fans felt the night of Oct. 17th. If there is some disciplinary action handed down from the suits at ESPN it won’t be Hill’s first public apology. Moving forward, this incident does compromise Hill’s credibility the next time she goes on Mike & Mike or His & Hers speak on some random athlete that’s either said or did something controversial – on or off the field.

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